Friday, September 08, 2017

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars, The Mindy Project, Space's Deepest Secrets: Cassini, Active Shooter: America Under Fire, Swim Team, Gary Owens: I Got My Associates, People, and Ball Street.

- Ahead of its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend, Showtime has released the full-length trailer and key art for the new Showtime Documentary Film, Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars. Following the festival, the film will make its world television debut exclusively on Showtime on Saturday, February 10 at 9:00. Also making its debut at TIFF this weekend is the new Showtime Documentary Film LOVE MEANS ZERO, which presents an in-depth look at famed tennis coach Nick Bollettieri and will premiere on Showtime in 2018.

- Check out the new trailer for the final season of The Mindy Project! The sixth and final season of The Mindy Project premieres Tuesday, Sept. 12 only on Hulu. New episodes will stream weekly on Tuesdays.

- Science Channel will follow the final moments of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft before it crashes into the atmosphere of Saturn. On Friday, September 15th the Cassini mission will end its remarkable 13-year tour of Saturn by plunging into the gas giant and burning up. Cassini has spent months diving close to Saturn’s rings, offering the world remarkable never-before-seen images of the planet. Now we’ll see what it looks like from inside its famous rings. Science Channel captures the months of lead-up to the mission’s ‘Grand Finale,’ as well images taken right before the crash, in Space's Deepest Secrets: Cassini, premiering Tuesday, September 19 at 9:00. The network will also go live on September 15 at 7:50 a.m., broadcasting Cassini’s final moments.

- Showtime announced a powerful new eight-part documentary series, Active Shooter: America Under Fire, that delivers an in-depth exploration of mass shootings and their devastating consequences. From the first-hand perspective of survivors, families of the victims, witnesses and heroic first responders, the series goes beyond the sensationalistic coverage of these nightmarish moments to offer a comprehensive report on these tragic events. Active Shooter: America Under Fire will premiere Friday, September 29 at 9:00 on Showtime, on-air, on demand and over the internet.

- Lara Stolman’s inspiring debut documentary, Swim Team, follows three diverse young men—Michael McQuay Jr., Robert Justino and Kelvin Truong—from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, who fall on the autism spectrum. New Jersey reports the highest rate of autism in the country, with one in 26 boys on the spectrum. On the McQuays’ team, the Jersey Hammerheads, these young men find inclusion, independence and space to achieve their loftiest goals. Swim Team has its national broadcast premiere on the PBS documentary series POV (Point of View) on Monday, October 2, 2017 at 10:00 (check local listings). POV is American television's longest-running independent documentary series, now in its 30th season. Swim Team is a co-presentation with the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM).

- The outrageously funny Gary Owen is back with his third SHOWTIME comedy special, Gary Owens: I Got My Associates, premiering Friday, September 8 at 9:00. In this hour-long special, Owen’s stories are as unbelievable as they are true, running the gamut from celebrity weddings and bumping into LeBron James in the bathroom to the dichotomy of his hillbilly family and being married to the daughter of a founding member of the Black Panthers. Filmed at the Stardome in Hoover, Alabama, Owen also includes his thoughts on being the father of teenagers and serving in the military, as well as what he thinks of gamblers, prisons and even hand washing. No one sees the world quite like he does in this hilarious new special.

- The legendary Madonna graces this weeks cover of People, with an exclusive look at her charity work for the African nation of Malawi, which recently culminated with the opening of the countrys first ever pediatric hospital. Madonna, a mother to six children  four of whom she adopted from Malawi  gives People and PEN unprecedented access to her incredible journey in helping a country she holds so dear.

- Showtime announced the pilot order for the new half-hour comedy series Ball Street, starring Emmy® nominated and Golden Globe winning actor Don Cheadle (HOUSE OF LIES) and two-time Tony® Award nominee and Grammy winner Andrew Rannells (Girls, The Intern). Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg will direct and executive produce the pilot. Ball Street was created by David Caspe (Happy Endings) and Jordan Cahan (My Best Friend’s Girl), who will serve as executive producers and showrunners. Production on the pilot is scheduled to begin in February. The project is a co-production between Showtime and Sony Pictures Television Studios. The announcement was made today by David Nevins, President and CEO, Showtime Networks Inc. takes us back to October 19, 1987 – aka Black Monday – the worst stock market crash in the history of Wall Street. To this day, no one knows who caused it. Until now… Ball Street is the story of how a group of outsiders took on the blue-blood, old-boys club of Wall Street and ended up crashing the world’s largest financial system, a Lamborghini limousine, Don Henley’s birthday party, and the glass ceiling.

Sunday, September 03, 2017

Ray Donovan: I guess I was wrong that the lack of Daryl in the present timeline meant he had something to do with Abby’s death but he actually showed up this episode. But I am a bit fuzzy on the Abby is dying timeline. They seem to be jumping around so did this week happen before Abby collapsed and went to the hospital or after? Then I was also wrong that the guy Bridget met in the premiere was the recipient of Abby’s heart instead Ray tried to kill him. Um, when has Ray ever failed to kill someone (aside from his father I guess)? And why even try to kill someone who was already dying, does he not have enough money, or can blackmail someone with enough money?

The Last Ship: It was only a matter of time that Civilian Chandler would run into the Nathan James, I probably had under three episode, but that was an interesting reintroduction of him to his former crew. Of course he will likely become acting captain as the new captain seems to be MIA.
You can download The Last Ship on iTunes.

The Strain: And more people finally finding each other. Maybe Gus can actually contribute to the story after being mostly meaningless so far. But I am still a little puzzled what actackly went down with the Nazi vampire. Okay, I get Setrakian poisoned his blood, but still, how did he come immune from turning despite being bit? Seems convenient.
You can download The Strain on iTunes.

Preacher: Wait, the guy escaped the ambulance? I guess we will get how next week.
You can download Preacher on iTunes.

The Challenge: Dirty 30: More Redemption House? I guess at least the losers from the last try to get back into the game are not still there (that we know of). But I wonder just how long the Challenge took. I have watched every season but I am sure it would take he hours to get it right and I think some of these kids were not even born when season one debuted.
You can download The Challenge: Dirty 30 on iTunes.